PQOC vs QMAR

PQOCBPGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - October

QMARCFT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - March

In short

PQOC Twelve points of downside cushion on the Nasdaq-100, reset every October. PGIM buffers the first 12% of a one-year loss on the big Nasdaq-100 ETF's own shares and caps the upside in exchange, for 0.50% a year.

QMAR A one-year seatbelt on the Nasdaq-100. QMAR absorbs the first 10% of losses in the Nasdaq-100 tracker it references and hands back the upside above a cap reset every March, one of four quarterly entry points in First Trust's buffer lineup.

Stated mandate

PQOC The Fund seeks to track the price return of the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 up to a cap while buffering the first 12% of losses during the one-year Target Outcome Period.

QMAR The Fund seeks to match the price return of the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 before fees and expenses, subject to a 20.86% upside cap, while buffering the first 10% of losses during the March 23, 2026–March 19, 2027 outcome period.

Why people hold it

• PQOC Twelve points of cushion, not ten, and the fee is 0.50% against the 0.79% Innovator charges on its 10-point Nasdaq-100 buffer fund (QBUF).
• The reference is the shares of the Invesco QQQ Trust itself, not a custom index, so the thing being buffered is the Nasdaq-100 vehicle most investors already watch.
• One of four PGIM siblings on a quarterly calendar (PQJA starts in January, PQAP in April), so the October reset window is a choice, not a leftover.
• Priced below the typical shallow-buffer Nasdaq-100 fund, which matters in a structure where fees come straight out of a fixed pool of upside.

• QMAR The buffer is the whole product: the first 10% of the reference fund's decline is absorbed, before fees, across a defined one-year outcome period that resets each March.ftportfolios.com
• It references the Invesco QQQ Trust itself rather than a paper index, so the payoff is pinned to the same Nasdaq-100 vehicle most investors already hold.sec.gov
• Running since 2021, it has now cycled through several complete outcome periods, and its March, June, September and December siblings let you stagger start dates instead of betting on one.

Worth knowing

• PQOC Upside is capped. A new ceiling gets set at the start of each October outcome period, and any Nasdaq-100 rally past it does not come through.
• The 12% buffer is designed for the full October-to-September period. Enter or exit mid-stream and you own the options at whatever they are worth that day.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on plain Nasdaq-100 funds.

• QMAR At 0.90% a year it sits at the expensive end of the Nasdaq-100 buffer shelf: QBUF charges 0.79%, PQAP and PQJA 0.50%, QTR 0.25%.
• The stated cap and buffer apply to buyers who hold a full outcome period. Come in mid-period and you inherit whatever cushion and upside room are left, not the headline terms.sec.gov
• Volume is light next to the biggest buffer funds, which can mean wider spreads, and the options structure isn't built to throw off income.

Full PQOC profile⁠

Full QMAR profile⁠